Review: Roomies by Christina Lauren

Roomies by Christina Lauren

Publication Date: December 5th 2017 by Gallery Books

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

About the book:

Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.

Rescued by Calvin McLoughlin from a would-be subway attacker, Holland Bakker pays the brilliant musician back by pulling some of her errand-girl strings and getting him an audition with a big-time musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until he admits his student visa has expired and he’s in the country illegally.

Holland impulsively offers to wed the Irishman to keep him in New York, her growing infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves from awkward roommates to besotted lovers, Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway. In the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting, what will it take for Holland and Calvin to realise that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

My Thoughts:

I had high hopes for Roomies and while I liked the story, I didn’t love it.

You get the gist of the overall story from the description, so I won’t rehash it here. I think this is a case where the story would’ve benefited from a dual POV because my biggest issue was that I wasn’t sure that Calvin wanted Holland like she wanted him for much of the book.  It felt very one-sided to me, I knew Holland was crazy about Calvin, but didn’t feel it on his end. If we would’ve had Calvin’s POV maybe I would’ve felt differently?  Who knows.  I didn’t feel much chemistry between them, and they didn’t even get together until well over (highlight to view spoiler) the 60% mark (end of spoiler).  Until then, I wasn’t sure Calvin was even attracted to Holland. 

Holland’s self-doubt and insecurities kind of tainted the story for me as well, because I didn’t see any evidence to the contrary. She didn’t start believing in herself until the very end. Holland kept wondering why someone like Calvin, talented and amazing, would want to be with her besides the benefit of a green card.  I didn’t feel a magnetic pull between them, so I kind of wondered the same thing.  This is a romance, so it all worked out, but I still feel a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing.  I’m in the minority with my reaction, so who knows, maybe it was just me. 

3 Suns